INSIDE THE STUDIO WITH MOSAIC ARTIST ALISON MACCORMAIC

As mosaic artists we spend thousands of hours inside our studios but we rarely show ourselves in the crucial spaces which allow our work to happen.

This new series of interviews with mosaic artists changes all that - here we have a unique opportunity to talk to professional mosaicists inside their space and learn about how they work, as well as their materials and inspiration.

We often have an idea that everyone else has a perfect set up with lots of light, neat shelves and colour coordinated tesserae. But real life isnt always like that.

In the third of this series, I meet Alison MacCormaic, a mosaic artist based in Galway in Ireland during a Creative Exchange Residency supported by the World Craft Council Europe.

The interview takes place in Alison's studio - a converted cow shed which has recently been extended. Alison does have the neat shelves and colour coordinated materials but that doesn't mean that everything is perfect in her space!

Alison is primarily known for her public art projects using Mexican smalti. Alison handles this gorgeous glass - a richer, more varied alternative to its Italian counterpart - with a deep understanding of its colour and tonal potential. Inspired by nature, figures and pattern, Alison reveals all in this interview.

To find out more about Alison: https://www.alisonmaccormaic.com/
Instagram: @alison_maccormaic_mosaics

Mexican smalti supplier: https://mvmstudios.com/en/
Kerapoxy grout: https://www.mapei.com/gb/en/products-...

00:00 Introduction
01:01 Alison's stained glass background
02:15 Mexican smalti
03:44 Alison's mosaic practice
05:01 Alison and colour
05:35 Alison's fabrication methods
07:49 Alison and Kerapoxy grout
11:42 Working on the vertical and getting a distance
13:43 Alison's mosaic strategy
15:28 Alison's mosaic commissions
16:44 Tonality in mosaics
17:40 Looking forward
18:52 Alison's studio
20:49 Organisation and storage
22:36 Alison's wish list
23:29 Alison's advice to new mosaicists
25:06 Contact Alison and conclusion